The Other Side of Darkness
by alosercanwin
Summary: As he turned the corner, that was when he spotted her. Her bushy mane of brown curls disappeared as soon as he saw them. But no... it couldn't be her. Hermione Granger had been dead for a year now. Draco, however, wasnt going to wait to find out.


_The willow tree swayed in the breeze above them as they laid under it. Her curly brown locks ran down the side of her face, her bangs forced sideways as she laid on her side. She laughed, her brown eyes smiling back at him as the setting sun reflected in them. She brought a hand up to the side of his face and caressed it. "Draco." She said his name so peacefully, like an angel, and for a second, he truly felt like he was in heaven. He closed his eyes at her touch and inhaled a deep breath, breathing in the smell of the tall grass around them. _

* * *

When he opened his eyes, everything was dark and gloomy, everything was back to normal. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and standing up from his seat in The Leaky Cauldron. She was gone. She was gone from this world, from this life, from _his_ life, and soon she would be gone from his dreams and memories because he would forget her. He _needed _to forget her. The year he spent with her had been the best year of his life, but all good things much come to an end.

At least here they did.

The wood of the chair scraped against the stone of the floor as Draco pushed it in. Grabbing the last of his firewhiskey, he tilted his head back and finished it in one gulp, placing the empty glass, along with a few sickles, on the table. He pulled his cloak tighter against him before making his way out towards the deserted, wet streets of Diagon Alley.

What had been a downpour earlier had turned to a slight drizzle as thunder boomed in the distance and more clouds began to roll in. Throwing his hood over his head and securing his wand in his cloak, Draco began his rounds for the night before he would find his partner and they would both retreat home. His partner, Hennix, a respectable Death Eater who hadn't disappeared for a year, lived in his deceased parents manor, surrounded by all the wizarding money and jewels his parents had left him.

Draco, on the other hand, would walk his way to the most deserted street of Diagon Alley, walk up to a second hand book shop, go down the alleyway, and then up a set of stairs to his crappy one bedroom flat above the bookshop. He didn't love it here, but he had no choice. Running away for a year has its consequences, including exile.

"Malfoy." Draco looked up to see Hennix, short, round, and mean looking, approaching him. "Well?"

Draco hated the way he talked to him. He didn't care if Hennix was almost a decade older than him, he didn't have any right to order him around. Draco, however, sighed under his breath and ignored this fact, answering his partner before he could report back to The Dark Lord that he was becoming snappy towards him. "I just have Handove Lane and then I'm done." Draco nodded towards the street that was directly to his right.

"Well, hurry." Hennix ordered. "It's bloody cold out here." He finished just as a cold March breeze blew through the street, forcing them to pull their cloaks against their bodies more.

Draco didn't respond to Hennix's order. Instead, he ignored him and started towards Handove Street so he could finally get out of the cold rain and into his warm bed. As he turned the corner onto Handove, that was when he spotted her. Her bushy mane of brown curls disappeared as soon as he saw them. But no… that couldn't be her. Hermione Granger had been dead for a year now. Draco, however, wasn't going to wait to find out.

Sprinting as fast as he could, Draco turned the corner that led down the alley and stopped when he saw her. Her back was the him, wand in her hand, as she examined the fence blocking her way out. "Hey!" Draco yelled, watching as she turned so fast her hair whipped her face. She moved her wand hand quickly, making a move to curse him, but Draco was faster and had her disarmed before she could even speak. Her wand clattered on the stone ground, but Draco didn't move to fetch it. Instead, he stared back at Hermione as she looked at him with fearful eyes.

"Is that really you?" He asked quietly as rained started to fall from the sky again. "Hermione?" She said nothing, just continued to look back at him, eyes now tearing up. "What… how… I-." Draco couldn't speak. The girl he loved, the girl who made his dark world light up with sunshine, the girl who died a year ago, was standing before him. "I-I thought you were dead."

"Malfoy!" Draco flinched at the sound of his name being called from outside of the alley. He was taking too long… Hennix was pissed.

"Please Malfoy." Hermione finally spoke, pleading. "Don't kill me."

"I-." Draco stopped. He wouldn't kill her, _couldn't_ kill her. How could she even think that? Didn't she remember what they had before she died?

"Bloody hell Malfoy! Where are you?" Draco could hear Hennix coming closer, and within a couple seconds… he would find them. He would find Hermione and he would turn her in.

Draco couldn't let that happen.

He took a couple steps towards Hermione's wand and picked it up. "You need to leave." He said quickly and quietly as he tossed her back her wand. "I don't know how you're alive but you have to go before Hennix sees you."

Hermione studied him carefully for a few seconds before nodding and turning towards the fence. Pulling herself onto a trash can and hoisting her leg over the fence, she was ready to run within seconds. But before she did, she turned back to Draco and smiled slightly. "Thank you." She said before disappearing, the skies pouring down rain again.

Draco didn't move, he stared at where she stood seconds ago. For about a minute, he had been close enough to touch her again, to hold her again, to kill her again. But now it was like it never happened. She was gone from his life… again.

Draco sighed, putting his wand away and turning just as Hennix rounded the corner. "What the hell Malfoy? What are you doing?" He snapped.

"I thought I saw someone." Draco answered quietly.

"Well? Did you?"

Draco paused, licking his lips as images of Hermione played over in his mind. "No." He finally answered. "It was just my imagination."

* * *

Draco threw his wet cloak on one of his dining room chairs before walking into the kitchen to make himself some tea. He placed the pot on the stove and started up the flames with his wand before making his way to the bathroom to dry his hair. As he was rying his hair, he thought he heart footsteps in the kitchen. He paused, straining his ears, but when he heard nothing else, he passed it off as his imagination.

Putting the towel on the edge of the sink, Draco made it to the kitchen just as his tea pot started to whistle. He quickly turned off the heat and turned for a cup, but froze, the tip of a wand inches from his nose.

"Give me your wand." Draco stared back into the brown eyes he knew so well. "Now!"

"I-I'm not going to hurt you Hermione. You should know that." Draco said as he put his hands up in surrender, starting at the girl he loved yet again. He couldn't believe his luck, and despite all the questions he had running through his mind, he couldn't help but consider this a miracle.

"Why wouldn't you?" She snapped, hand now shaking.

Draco looked at her questionably. "I…. Do you really not remember?" He asked, but she didn't answer, her wand still pointing at him. "Hermione… please lower your wand."

"No!" She yelled through her teeth. "And stop calling me by my first name!"

"Alright, fine." Draco said quickly as Hermione took a step closer to him. "How did you find me?"

"I followed you obviously."

"Why?"

"I-." She paused, licking her lips nervously. "You didn't kill me." Her voice was suddenly soft and quiet. "You didn't even turn me in."

"How could I?"

"You hate me." She stated this like it was the most common thing in the world, like they didn't have the past he knew they had together. If she did know about it, if she remembered, she wouldn't be questioning why he saved her because she would know of his true feelings for her. She would know how they came to love each other. He stared back at her in confusion. This couldn't be her. He had watched them bring her body back to The Dark Lord.

She _was_ dead.

"Who are you?" He asked quietly.

She lowered her wand slightly, biting her lips together as she stared back at the confused Slytherin in front of her. "Were you friends?" She asked in a soft tone.

"Who?"

"You and Hermione?" Draco didn't answer, he didn't know how to. Here was Hermione, a person who had been dead for a year now, standing in front of him and talking about herself in third person.

"I loved her." Draco answered truthfully, quietly.

Hermione lowered her wand a little more, her face falling. "Loved?"

Draco nodded, sighing slightly. "Yeah."

"Why don't you love her anymore?"

Draco sighed again, this time heavier. "I still do… but I can't. It's unhealthy for me to still love her." When Hermione only stared back at him with confusion, he said the one thing he never wanted to say aloud again. "She's dead."

Hermione let out a small sob, her mouth falling open slightly in shock as her wand arm fell to her side. Draco watched her eyes wander the room in through as he took the opportunity to take a good look at her. She looked different. He didn't know why or what made her look this way, but she did. "I- I'm sorry." She finally said, lowering her head to the ground.

"She's been dead for a year now. _You've_ been dead for a year now." Draco said, not taking his eyes off her. Hermione slowly raised her head, her eyes finally meeting Draco's. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

Hermione stared at him for a few seconds before biting her lower lip. "I'm not dead."

"Obviously." Draco snapped. "Who are you, for real?"

"I'm Hermione Grange, just not your Hermione Granger." Draco raised his eyebrow in confusion. "I came here for answers, but I shouldn't have come."

"What are you on about?"

Hermione paused again before answering. "How old are you Malfoy? 18, Correct?" Draco nodded. "Don't I look different… younger." Hermione paused, waiting to see if Draco could figure it out on his own. When it was obvious he wasn't going to, she finally spoke. "I'm from the past."

* * *

_review please!_


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